Gonzalez Makes Cover of 'MLB 12 The Show'
BOSTON (CBS) – Red Sox first baseman Adrian Gonzalez is a cover boy once again.
Gonzalez will grace the cover of Playstation 3's MLB 12 The Show this year, something the slugger said he dreamed about as a kid.
"I'm thrilled. Just very proud to be on the cover," Gonzalez told the MLB Network on Wednesday.
Gonzalez is the third Red Sox to be featured on the Playstation game. David Ortiz was on the cover in 2006, with Dustin Pedroia getting the honors in 2009.
Gonzalez made the cut after putting up MVP-like numbers in his first season with the Red Sox, smacking 27 homers and driving in 117 runs. He led the AL with 213 hits (along with Texas' Michael Young) and won a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger award.
Although he sees his first season in Boston as a personal success, overall he and the Red Sox clearly fell short.
"Personally I would sum it up as a failure because we didn't make the playoffs, we didn't get to win the World Series," said Gonzalez. "That's how every season should be judged on. Overall I was able to do some good things. Hopefully next year will be a season where you can put the personal success with the team success and we win a World Series."
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The Red Sox suffered the worst September collapse in baseball history, squandering a nine game lead at the beginning of the month. Because of the collapse, Theo Epstein and Terry Francona are both gone. But Gonzalez does not see their departures as an over-reaction to the team's failures.
"It is what it is. I'm not in the front office, I don't know what was going on prior to this season. It was definitely a bad ending," he said. "No one wanted Theo to be put in that position or Tito. We just didn't get it done so changes, I guess, had to be made from a management standpoint.
Gonzalez is confident new general manager Ben Cherington will find the right man to run the team. He has already interviewed Pete Mackanin of the Phillies, Dale Sveum of the Brewers and Sandy Alomar Jr. of the Indians.
Gonzalez is following the process closely, keeping tabs on who his next manager could be.
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"I'm really happy with Ben Cherington, he's going to do a great job finding a new manager," Gonzalez said confidently. "Hopefully they'll be around for the next seven years that I have in Boston, maybe more. I know they're going to pick the right guy. You follow along and try to read up on each guy, so you can get to know a little about him before you meet him personally."
"From my end, (I'll) just look forward to next season and try and do what we can to be better," he added.
